B.C. to axe Human Rights Commission

To reduce case backlog, government redesigns its human rights complaints system

By Asha Tomlinson

07/15/2002|Canadian HR Reporter|Last Updated: 09/04/2003

British Columbia plans to scrap the Human Rights Commission, making it the only province in Canada without one. The Human Rights Tribunal will now handle all complaints.

“The commission was too slow and never seemed to successfully resolve complaints early enough,” said Attorney-General Geoff Plant. “It had responsibilities that required it to be impartial and an advocate at the same time and I think that’s a structural conflict.”

In a letter to the government earlier this year, Doug Alley, vice-president of HR at the B.C. Business Council, said the commission “performs no useful function and is responsible for most of the undue delay and costs of the current system.”